Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- Consolidated Virginia Mining Company Records
- Dates:
- 1876-1955
- Creators:
- Consolidated Virginia Mining Company.
- Abstract:
- This collection contains correspondence, business papers, ledger books, maps and reports of the Consolidated Virginia Mining Company of Virginia City, Nevada, dating from 1876-1955. The materials document mines and mineral resources in Nevada; the Comstock Lode and other mines, and the mining industry and finance.
- Extent:
- Approximately 1,300 pieces
- Language:
- English.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item]. Consolidated Virginia Mining Company Records, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
This collection contains correspondence, business papers, 16 ledger books, maps and reports of the Consolidated Virginia Mining Company of Virginia City, Nevada, dating from 1876-1955. The 112 rolled maps in collection, dating from 1876 to 1947 document the early period, the general mining district, and other mines and mining claims on the Comstock Lode such as the Ophir mines and the Mexican Gold and Silver Mining Company. One map is signed by Charles Frederick Hoffmann. The collection includes an account book and many letters of Zeb Kendall, president of the firm.
Some notable items include:
- Hoffmann Charles Frederick. General Map of Comstock Mines [c. 1879]. Map 1
- Osborne, W. L. Consolidated Virginia and Ophir Mines: Assay Plans (10 maps showing details of original level workings). 1933-1934. Map Roll 16
- Consolidated Virginia Mining Co. Minutes of the Board of Directors. 1932-1935. Box 1
- Con-Virginia Diamond Drill Logs and correspondence. 1950. Box 4
- Biographical / historical:
-
The Consolidated Virginia Mining Company on the Comstock Lode at Virginia City, Nevada, was organized in 1867, but the sinking of a shaft was delayed for two years. The lode was difficult to find, work stopped, and the stock fell considerably in 1870. In 1871, James Flood began to buy stock in Consolidated Virginia and, joined by John Mackay, James Fair, and William O'Brien, formed the Bonanza Firm. They bought the land owned by the Consolidated Virginia Mining Co. and hoped to find rich ore in that section between the Gould & Curry and the Ophir mines. In 1873, they struck the Big Bonanza, which produced over $100 million of ore from 1873-1882. The firm bought control of the adjoining Ophir and Mexican mines in 1877. Although the firm dominated the Comstock from 1876-95, when Mackay sold the interests to San Francisco stockbrokers, the last dividend was paid in 1880. The Con-Virginia was the most successful mine on the Comstock and one of the few to pay more in dividends than it levied in assessments. In the 1930s, the company was reactivated to mine and mill the lower grade ore still remaining. The reactivated firm in 1933 collected old maps and also made detailed new maps of the older workings, level by level.
Some high-grade veins were found and production continued until 1942 when gold mining activity was curtailed because of war-time restrictions. After this time, the mine operated only sporadically and correspondence ceases in 1955.
- Acquisition information:
- Purchased from Neil Weinstein, May 9, 1975.
- Rules or conventions:
- Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
About this collection guide
- Date Prepared:
- © 2000
- Date Encoded:
- Machine readable finding aid encoded by Diann Benti in June 2017 .
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.
- Terms of access:
-
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item]. Consolidated Virginia Mining Company Records, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
- Location of this collection:
-
1151 Oxford RoadSan Marino, CA 91108, US
- Contact:
- (626) 405-2191